The Queen is breaking royal protocol for Meghan Markle's mum in the sweetest way possible.

Christmas is an administrative nightmare, especially when it comes to the whole ‘whose family should we spend it with’ chat, but when you’re a royal, that discussion gets thrown out the window.

Instead, there are very important traditions one has to abide by. The royal family spends both Christmas and New Year at Sandringham House – the Queen’s country estate in Norfolk – where every year they decorate the tree, exchange presents on Christmas Eve and enjoy formal dinners before going to the morning service on Christmas Day at St Mary Magdalene Church. Attendance is, generally, strictly limited to blood-born royals and their spouses, only.

However, as reported by Express, according to a ‘senior royal source,’ Queen Elizabeth II will be breaking royal protocol by inviting Meghan Markle’s mum, Doria Ragland to spend the holidays at her Sandringham estate. It’s an unusual but touching move the source describes as a “very thoughtful gesture”.

“It’s a mark of the Queen’s respect for Meghan and an acknowledgement that she doesn’t have any other relations in this country—unlike Kate who has the support of a very close family,” they said.

Meghan Markle attending Christmas Day mass with the royal family. Image via Getty.

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Meghan's inclusion in Christmas events with the royal family last year was also considered rule-breaking, as the gesture wasn't extended to Kate Middleton when she was engaged to Prince William, nor Mike Tindall, before he married the Queen's eldest granddaughter, Zara Tindall.

It's believed Meghan and her mother share a very close relationship, a contrast to the continuous drama perpetuated by her father, Thomas Markle and her half-sister, Samantha.

Ragland, a 62-year-old LA-based social worker and yoga instructor, was the only member of Meghan's family to be invited to her wedding in May. It's also been suggested she will be staying in the UK for an extended period of time to support Meghan through the last few months of her first pregnancy, before she gives birth in the Spring of 2019.

What do you think of the Queen inviting Meghan's mother to Christmas? Tell us in a comment below!